No one can ‘obliterate’ Taiwan’s existence, says Tsai

Vowing that “no one can obliterate Taiwan’s existence”, President Tsai Ing-wen left on Sunday for the United States and two of Taipei’s remaining diplomatic allies, amid pressure from China to try to stamp out references to the island internationally, Reuters reports.

China, which claims self-ruled and democratic Taiwan as its own, has stepped up a campaign against the island as it tries to assert Chinese sovereignty.

Beijing has ordered foreign companies to label Taiwan as part of China on their websites and is excluding Taiwan from as many international forums as it can.

Also, China has also been whittling down the number of countries that recognize Taiwan – now just 18 – with Burkina Faso and the Dominican Republic switching relations to Beijing this year.

Speaking before her flight to Los Angeles, where she was stopping en route to Belize and Paraguay, Tsai struck a defiant tone.

“In going abroad, the whole world can see Taiwan; they can see our country as well as our support for democracy and freedom,” Tsai said. “We only need to be firm so that no one can obliterate Taiwan’s existence.”

Tsai arrived in Los Angeles on Sunday and was scheduled to address a banquet for Taiwanese-Americans there on Sunday evening, then pay a visit to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library outside of Los Angeles on Monday, according to Phi Lin Chuang, a Taiwanese government spokeswoman.

China, which believes Tsai wants to push for Taiwan’s formal independence, has already complained to Washington about her US stopovers, which include Houston on her way back.

The trip starts one day after Taiwan’s state-run refiner CPC Corp. announced a deal valued at US$25 billion to purchase liquefied natural gas from the US over the next 25 years.

The deal was aimed at boosting trade relations with the US by reducing its trade surplus and was also a sign of goodwill ahead of Tsai’s visit, a person familiar with the government’s thinking told Reuters.

Tsai, who says she wants to maintain the status quo with China, will also be looking to reaffirm Washington-Taipei ties and to shore up support ahead of local elections in Taiwan in November amid the escalating pressure from China.

During her US stops, Tsai intends to meet Ed Royce, chairman of the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, according to two people with knowledge of the plans.

She will also meet with business representatives to discuss how Taiwan could drum up investment and procurement with the US, they said.

Washington has no formal ties with Taiwan but is the island’s strongest ally and sole foreign arms supplier.

Tsai’s US stopovers come as China and the US are engaged in a trade war, adding to Beijing’s irritation with Washington.

While coping with fierce competition, Chinese bike-sharing giant ofo has been contending with disputes over unpaid debt, rumors of mass layoffs, and senior management shuffles in recent months. And on Tuesday, hundreds of ofo...

The British government said on Tuesday that it will implement plans for a no-deal Brexit in full and begin telling businesses and citizens to prepare for the risk of leaving the European Union without...

Chinese President Xi Jinping called on Tuesday for the unswerving implementation of reforms on Beijing’s terms but offered no new specific measures in a closely watched speech marking 40 years of market liberalization, Reuters...

Chinese President Xi Jinping praised Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor during a meeting held in Beijing Monday afternoon, lauding her for her work over the past year. Lam led the Hong Kong...

The Czech Republic’s cyber watchdog on Monday warned the nation’s network operators against using software or hardware made by Chinese telecoms equipment firms Huawei and ZTE, Reuters reports. The Czech National Cyber and Information...

Henry Kissinger, in his book On China, wrote that Chinese strategists think differently than their western counterparts because they are used to playing a different board game, weiqi, where the player patiently gains relative...

Students are often overwhelmed by too many subject choices and don’t really know which one they should pick when they go to college. I believe the so-called T-Model is the best approach to learning....

After World War I ended, Havana emerged as one of the world’s most vibrant cities. During the first half of 1920, rising sugar prices and a favorable global environment meant that credit and finance...